Maria Hengstberger

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Maria Hengstberger (born August 2, 1941 in Vienna ) is an Austrian doctor and development worker.

Life

She was born as the daughter of Helene and Richard Bachbauer. She completed her medical studies at the University of Vienna and received her doctorate in 1967. In 1966 she married the chemist Herbert Hengstberger. Their daughter Monika was born in 1969. Maria Hengstberger is an independent, resident specialist in gynecology and obstetrics . From 1985 to 1988 she was the medical director of the Vienna West Private Clinic.

In 1989 she founded the “ Aktion Regen ” association. The aim of this association is to help poor people in developing countries in the medical field and to give them the knowledge they need to take responsibility for family planning .

After working as a doctor for a few years, she was asked to help set up a clinic in Ethiopia . There she met many women with eight or more children and found that these women did not know how to avoid further births. Hardly any of the women had enough money for birth control pills or condoms . When Maria Hengstberger noticed that even the poorest women wore chains around their necks, the idea of ​​the birth control chain was born.

Birth control chain

Birth control chain

This necklace represents a menstrual calendar. It consists of 30 teardrop-shaped pearls. They have different colors and each one represents a day in the woman's menstrual cycle . A small rubber ring is pushed from one pearl to the next every day. Due to the teardrop shape, it can only be pushed in one direction, from the narrow to the wide end of the pearl. A change of direction is therefore impossible.

At the beginning there is a red pearl. It marks the first day of menstrual bleeding. The rubber ring on the birth control chain is started from this pearl. Small red markings on yellow beads indicate the average number of days of menstruation.

Yellow pearls mean barren days. The yellow color symbolizes the barren yellow desert sand. Blue pearls mean fertile days. The blue stands for water and fertility.

There is a transition period between the fertile and sterile days. During this transition period, pregnancy is unlikely, but not impossible. This possible fertile time is indicated by different blue markings on the yellow pearls.

This makes it easy for women to determine which phase of their cycle they are in. At the beginning of the next menstruation, the rubber ring is pushed back to the beginning.

Hengstberger did not patent the chain, but it was patented by third parties in the USA.

In the meantime, the birth control chain is being recreated in various ways. In developing countries you see it more in material form, made of glass or wood, while in industrialized countries it occurs on the Internet, in the virtual form of the ovulation calculator.

Hengstberger has also further developed the chain himself. The pearls for the fertile days are now in a shape reminiscent of babies to further facilitate understanding. Therefore, the birth control chain is now also referred to as the “baby chain”.

Awards

Works

  • Water to the roots. Diary. As a doctor in Ethiopia. Association f. Development aid “Aktion Regen”, Vienna 1990; ISBN 3-901145-00-1
  • My way through India. Travel journal. Development Aid Association “Aktion Regen”, Vienna 1993; IDN 955005175
  • Woman to woman gynecology. Questions, answers and advice. Springer, Vienna / New York 2005/2007 (2nd A.); ISBN 3-211-70832-4

See also

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Hengstberger, Maria
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian doctor and development worker
DATE OF BIRTH August 2, 1941
PLACE OF BIRTH Vienna